I know many of you have read this before but still…
Interesting facts about dragsters. Amazing that a motor can be built to endure such punishment; however, many of them don’t. What a ride that would be!
Acceleration Explained
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One Top Fuel dragster outfitted with a 500 cubic-inch replica Dodge Hemi engine makes more horsepower (8,000 HP) than the first 4 rows of cars at NASCAR’s Daytona 500.
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Under full throttle, a dragster engine will consume 11.2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded Boeing 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate but with 25% less energy being produced.
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A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to merely drive the dragster’s supercharger.
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With 3000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition. Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lockup at full throttle.
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At the stoichio metric 1.7:1 air/fuel mixture for nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7050 degrees F.
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Nitro methane burns yellow. The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.
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Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug - roughly the output of an electric arc welder in each cylinder.
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Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After 1/2 way thru the run, the engine is ‘dieseling’ from compression and the glow of the exhaust valves at 1400 degrees F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.
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If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with enough sufficient force to blow the cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half !!
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Dragsters reach over 300 MPH +… before you have completed reading this sentence.
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In order to exceed 300 MPH in 4.5 seconds, a dragster must accelerate at an average of over 4 Gs. In order to reach 200 MPH well before reaching half-track, at launch the acceleration approaches 8 Gs.
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Top Fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!
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Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.
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The redline is actually quite high at 9500 RPM.
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THE BOTTOM LINE: Assuming all the equipment is paid for, the pit crew is working for free, & NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run will cost an estimated $1,000 per second.
0 to 100 MPH in .8 seconds (the first 60 feet of t he run)
0 to 200 MPH in 2.2 seconds (the first 350 feet of the run)
6 G forces at the starting line (nothing accelerates faster on land)
6 negative G forces upon deployment of twin 'chutes at 300 MPH
An NHRA Top Fuel Dragster accelerates more quickly than any other land vehicle on earth… quicker than a jet fighter plane… quicker than the space shuttle… or even snapping your fingers!!
The current Top Fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.420 seconds for the quarter-mile (2004, Doug Kalitta).
The top speed record is 337.58 MPH as measured over the last 66’ of the run (2005, Tony Schumacher).
Let’s now put this all into perspective:
Imagine this: You are driving a new $140,000 Lingenfelter twin-turbo powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a Top Fuel dragster is staged & ready to ‘launch’ down a quarter-mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line, passing the parked dragster at an honest 200 MPH… The ‘tree’ goes green for both of you at that exact moment.
The dragster departs & starts after you. You keep your foot buried hard to the floor, and suddenly you hear an incredibly brutal, screaming whine that sears and pummels your eardrums. Within a mere 3 seconds the dragster effortlessly catches
& passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter-mile away from where you just passed him.
Think about it – from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 MPH… and it not only caught you, but nearly blasted you off the planet when it passed you within a mere 1320 foot long race !!!
That, my friends, is acceleration."
